


The Stand In

by CosmicMerlyn



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternative Universe - Modern, And So Does Everyone Else, Angst, Ben is a writer, Domestic, Drama, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Eventual Happy Ending, F/M, Fluff, Marriage, Misunderstanding, Modern Day, Rey Needs A Hug, Reylo AU Week, Reylo AU Week 2018, Slow Burn, The Decoy Bride - Freeform, lots of drama first though, lots of misunderstandings, rey is a mechanic and sometimes writer, what could go wrong
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-20
Updated: 2018-09-16
Packaged: 2019-06-30 04:59:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15744768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CosmicMerlyn/pseuds/CosmicMerlyn
Summary: Hollywood star, Jessika Pava, is determined to marry her fiancé, Ben Solo, in private on a remote Scottish island, but when the press turn up, a decoy bride is hired to stand in for her. For Rey Kenobi, being a stand in bride is just the start of her problems as she starts to fall for the groom.Will anyone come out of this happy?A Reylo AU fic based on the film 'The Decoy Bride'.





	1. The (almost) wedding

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Reylo fic. I've been an admirer of this fandom for a while so this is my contribution. I'm not sure how long this will last for at the moment, but I'll be mapping out the whole thing in the coming weeks. You can expect tooth rotting fluff in this fic, as well as some angst and lots of Reylo.
> 
> https://cosmic-merlyn.tumblr.com/ - come say hi on Tumblr!

[ ](https://imgur.com/6kbx0Gb)

“Is he here?” Hux’s voice was low enough at the back of the church so that only Phasma could hear him. Her lips pulled into a thin line as she clicked on her phone, going through her last set of messages,

“No sign of Dameron anywhere.” She said with a satisfied smug grin on her face. Hux nodded, still looking around the small church wearily. They’d had to drive hours outside New York to find this place to have the ceremony. Seven weddings Dameron had managed to infiltrate so far, but he wasn’t going to get to this one, Hux was absolutely determined. 

This time they’d thought of everything; the invites had been sent out with a time and date but not a location until the night before to give the few selected and vetted guests time to get over here. They’d done a sweep of the church and the surrounding area ten times just in the last three hours; there were security guards everywhere and there were no hiding places anywhere in the church. 

“There’s no way he’s getting in here.” Hux declared then, eyes finally coming to rest on the groom at the altar whilst resisting the urge to roll his eyes. By all accounts this day should have been over months ago and he could have been on a beach somewhere, but no, his holiday and his life had been put on hold for what was being called the wedding of the century. His boss, the famous actor Jessika Pava was marrying the budding author Ben Solo. She’d read his novel, The Finalizer, which was about a romance based on the obscure Scottish island of Hegg; it had been love at first chapter as she’d so wittily quipped. However, each wedding so far had been gate-crashed by the infamous Poe Dameron, who was a photographer for a lifestyle magazine. He’d managed to capture the shot of the first kiss between several high profile bride and grooms over the years, now his magazine was only interested in him catching the first kiss between Jessika and Ben. Only Jessika was as determined to have a private wedding as they were to get pictures of the event. 

However, Dameron wasn’t here this time, so it was all going to be fine. This was going to be the last wedding he’d have to organise like he was something out of the FBI. As he looked around to take in his success, he turned on his heels. The music had struck up and the bride was walking towards the altar with a big smile plastered onto her face. This was fine, it was all fine. They were finally going to get married; he could go back to his desk job as Jessika’s agent.

Ben smiled at Jessika as she walked towards him and went to hold her hand just as she got to him and the priest. However, she walked straight past them both, ignoring them as though they weren’t there. 

“Jessika?” Ben hovered around behind her, ignoring the priest who was questioning him sharply. Jessika didn’t hear either of them, she went straight to the altar behind them both where it had a wooden panel which was ever so slightly ajar and pulled it sharply so it fell off forwards. The whole congregation gasped as none other than Poe Dameron was revealed to the room, rolling out on his side and coughing as he clung onto his camera.

“What the hell?” She shouted going to kick his side but Poe was too quick and got up in a flash, pointing his camera at her as the click of it rolled around, snapping every moment as he made his getaway out of the back of the church. “You ruined my wedding you jerk!” Despite her heels, Jessika tore after him, followed closely by Ben, Phasma and Hux. Poe grinned at her, saluting as he tore off to the side, disappearing from view, leaving her kicking up the dust. 

“Later, sweetheart!” He shouted over his shoulder, heading into obscurity as she screamed in his direction, throwing her bouquet in his direction,

“You watch, I’ll get married somewhere so obscure you’ll never, ever find me. Never!”  


_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ __ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

**(A week later!)**

The ferry was late, again. Rey rested her forehead on her hands against the rail as she watched the waves ebb over the side of the boat. This was the first boat to Hegg she’d managed to get on and even now they were complaining about a storm brewing. She was so frustrated she wanted to kick the side of the boat, but instead she settled for taking the ring off her left hand and throwing it as far as she could into the sea, imagining she was throwing it straight into the middle of his face.  
Once the boat got going, it didn’t take long to get to the little island. She hadn’t been home since she’d left over three years ago now. Rey had taken up a job as a mechanic and used car reviewer in central Edinburgh, wanting to stretch her wings off the tiny island she’d been raised on. She’d lived with her ex for two of those years, deciding when he ended it to head back home, leaving him and the job behind.

As the only one getting off on the little island of Hegg, she had a long walk up to the guest house her grandfather owned by herself. It was the only B&B on the whole island, and given the number of tourists they actually got around these parts, it was empty. Using her spare key, Rey walked in like she’d never been away, dumping her bags in the middle of the floor before her grandfather swung in; his wheelchair clipped the side of one of her cases as he stared up at her.

“What are you doing here? You didn’t call.” Ben said steadily, looking his granddaughter up and down. Rey shrugged though her lip trembled, 

“Do I need an excuse to come visit my grandfather?” She said, putting her coat over her luggage and refusing to meet his sad gaze. Ben inched over to her and covered her small hand with his before she broke down into sobs, turning and bending down so she could bury her head into his shoulder. “He left me.” She cried into his shirt as he stroked the back of her head,

“There, there, starlight.” He hummed, “Shh.” Rey wasn’t sure how much time he let her stay like that, but she pulled back when he coughed a little awkwardly.

“Rey, this might not be the best time, but I need to go to the church- there’s a wedding.” Rey stared at him,

“What wedding?” Ben looked a little sheepish,

“Finn and Rose’s, everyone on the island is going up there to celebrate.” He looked a little unsure at her. Everyone knew that she and Finn had dated once upon a time, but they’d broken it off before she’d taken up her job in Edinburgh- he’d told her he wasn’t ever going to leave the island and she had told him she wasn’t ever coming back. One of them had been right.

“How lovely!” She said with a smile which didn’t quite reach her eyes, “Let me get changed and I’ll help get you up there.” Rey rubbed her eyes on the back of her jacked before moving towards the stairs of her old room.

“Rey-“ Ben was still looking up at her; she paused, looking back over her shoulder, “I’m so glad you’ve come home again. I’ve missed you.” She brightened at that and crossed back over the room to kiss his cheek,

“I’ve missed you too, grandfather.”

It didn’t take the pair too long to get up to the church. The weather wasn’t that great, but it never was on Hegg, so Rey took it with a pinch of salt. She pushed her grandfather all the way up to the church, listening to his ramblings about the people who lived on the island: how Kathy McGreen still couldn’t control her sheepdog and how Arnold down the road had lost another toe in an unfortunate mechanical accident with his tractor. Rey hummed, not adding much comment to her grandfather’s stories; they were all ones she’d heard at some time or another. Nothing ever really happened on Hegg; so much so, Rey wasn’t sure why they didn’t just put that on the welcome signs as a point of interest to people.

Outside the church, the congregation was gathering for the wedding. She smiled a little awkwardly at the people there who looked her up and down. Rey knew they were probably all too aware of how she had vowed never to set foot on this island again only three years ago. Maz, her old boss, was the only one who walked towards her, pulling Rey into a tight embrace.

“Hello Maz.” She managed a genuine smile as Maz tugged her cheek fondly,

“Back again so soon, Rey?” The young woman laughed nervously but nodded,

“Yeah. Might be for a while.” Maz hummed, looking up at Rey as though she knew what she was going to say next, “Might need my old job back, at the mechanic shop.” Maz raised an eyebrow,

“What about your fancy job in Edinburgh?” Plunging her hands into her pockets, Rey shrugged,

“I got tired of describing used Citroens in a way which would trick people into thinking they were getting a good deal.” Maz snorted and shook her head as the pair watched the groom, Finn, and his best men go into the church, followed by some of the rest of the guests.

“That’s the last one, ay?” Maz now walked a little in front of Rey, who felt wholly underdressed in her little sundress and thick jacket, “The last single man on Hegg.” This was something Rey knew too well; there were a few single women on Hegg, but Finn was the last eligible bachelor and it seemed that Rose had been the one to tie him down. Even in her current state of mind, Rey was happy for them. She remembered Rose from school; she’d been sweet then, she was sure they’d make a lovely couple.

Maz went on ahead, shouting at someone up ahead, so Rey was the last to enter the church, looking quickly for her grandfather when the music struck up as she walked down the asile. Rey’s cheeks blossomed red as everyone in the church, including Finn, turned round to look at her standing in the middle of the aisle, obstructing the view of the bride and her bridesmaids.

“Rey?” Finn’s eyes were the size of saucers and Rey flapped her hands about wildly, 

“No, no I’m so sorry, I’m not-“ out of the corner of her eye she caught her grandfather with his head in his hands; only she seemed to have noticed his shoulders shaking and lifting a little at the scene in front of him. The music had stopped and Rey looked between the bride and groom, “I’ll just sit down shall I? Let you all get on with this.” She squeezed onto the end of a pew next to a family who looked appalled at her. Rey pretended to ignore them as the music struck up again, meaning the bride could actually meet the groom at the altar. As she watched the ceremony, she ran a finger over where her engagement ring had been until this very morning. Her hand felt empty and much too light without it.

At the end of the service, Rey tried to make a speedy departure past the bride and groom, but Finn grabbed her arm,

“Hello Rey.” He let he go quickly as she tugged her arm back, trying to smile up at him though she was completely aware that it wasn’t reaching her eyes as well as it should have done. “You’re back?” It sounded more like an accusation; one of the main reasons she had given him for breaking up in the first place had been that she wanted to move away from Hegg and he had wanted to stay.

“Yes, you know, I realised I couldn’t leave my grandfather for that long again.” She wrapped her arms around her middle, “I’ve come back to help care for him.” Finn nodded, not wholly convinced by the answer, “It was a lovely wedding.” He nodded,

“Well, Rose is a lovely woman. She’s everything to me.” Rose, hearing her name wandered over to the pair, slipping an arm around her husband’s waist and kissing his cheek,

“Oh hello Rey, I didn’t realise you were going to be here.” Rose didn’t look annoyed, she just looked happy, but Rey supposed she had every reason to be. She was married and they both had a life to look forwards to living.

“Yes, everything just fell into place I guess.” She had started to slowly back away from the pair, “But you know what, I’m going to just head off this way for a bit.” Because she was sure if she was around anymore marital bliss today she was going to heave. With a quick word to her grandfather, who was going to get someone else to walk him down to the guest house, Rey took off in the opposite direction of civilisation.

There was one fortunate thing about living on an island in the middle of nowhere; lots of places to escape to. She pulled the hood of her jacket up and took off down the road. She was intending to head out to the furthest corner of the island and stay there for a long time. Maybe she could even find more things to throw in the direction of the sea. 

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she didn’t notice a car speeding towards her until it was metres away. Rey blinked, surprised to see anyone driving as the entire population of the island had been up at the church. She stepped back to let the car pass on the little country lane, though her heart caught in her throat as the vehicle slowed beside her. The back window opened and Rey considered just jumping through the next couple of fields, to get away from the car, but she stayed, sure that no one was going to attempt kidnapping on a remote island.

“Excuse me?” A red haired man wound the back window of the car down and Rey caught sight of him and a white blonde haired woman in the back seat of the car. Rey hesitated but inched towards the car,

“Yes?” The red haired man now cleared his throat,

“We’re just in the area,” Rey raised an eyebrow at that, “And we’ve heard lovely things about a castle?” 

“A castle on the island? It’s up to your left there, but it’s mostly abandoned.” Rey informed them, only vaguely aware of the tight line the red haired man’s lips had now formed. The blonde woman put a hand on his shoulder and looked up at Rey,

“Thanks.” She paused, “But if anyone asks, we weren’t here.” The window snapped upwards suddenly unceremoniously and Rey was certain she heard the red haired man shouting,

_“What the hell did you tell her that for?”_ Just as their their driver sped off in the direction of the castle. Rey rolled her eyes and headed back out on her original mission to go and find somewhere to sit and ignore the world for a couple of hours.


	2. Worlds Collide

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and Jessika arrive on Hegg at the same time as Rey struggles to settle back into island life.

Hux looked up at the castle as Phasma tapped furiously on her phone. “This is definitely the right castle.” She said. Hux had a copy of Ben Solo’s book, the Finalizer, in his hands which he quickly flicked through.

“I thought he said that the book was true to the island? Didn’t he say he lived here or something? The book says the castle was the main characters stately home!” Furious, he threw the book to the side, looking up ahead at the ruined castle which looked nothing like the books description, “Jessika is going to be here in three days and she’s expecting it to all look like it does in his damn book!” Phasma retrieved the book and stuck her hip out as she considered the scene in front of them.  


“You’ve tackled more difficult challenges than this.” Hux was massaging the side of his head with his middle finger and thumb. He only glanced at Phasma’s attempt to make him feel better as he let out an exaggerated sigh.

“Get me a working phone, whoever on this island can build, repair and rework. I also and a year’s supply of coffee. Now.”

…

[3 days later]

Jessika tugged at Ben’s hand enthusiastically as they jumped off the boat onto the beach. Ben still had no idea where they were or what she was planning; since she had proposed, he had learned that it was easier to go along with whatever she wanted. Jessika had an idea in the head of what she wanted and for Ben, who was more surprised than ever to be by her side, just went along with it. The wedding was supposed to be the bride’s day anyway, wasn’t it?

“Where are we?” He asked, seeing that Jessika wasn’t just going to supply the information. They’d flown by private jet over to what he assumed was a part of Europe and completed the rest of the journey by boat. Jessika looked strangely at him but waved her arm in front of her, as though she felt she was giving him an answer. Ben looked blankly at her.

“You know where we are.” She laughed. Ben didn’t match it and looked around again, wondering if this was where one of Jessika’s films was set or something similar; none of it looked familiar. “You’re impossible sometimes, you know that?” She teased, tugging him up the beach. “It’s the location of my favourite book.” Ben was still looking blankly until he remembered what her favourite book was.

His book. The Finalizer.

“We’re on Hegg?” He couldn’t keep the surprise or the alarm out of his voice though Jessika didn’t seem to notice. Ben looked around, dumbfounded, never expecting to actually be here. It was one of the reasons he had picked one of the most secluded spots in the world to set his novel; less criticism if people don’t know what or where you’re writing about. 

“Of course we are- come on, I can’t wait to see my favourite places from the book.” Jessika was too excitedly wrapped up in her view so she didn’t notice Ben grimacing behind her.

…

They were driven straight up to the castle which, surprisingly to Ben, looked exactly like it had done in his novel; right down to the daisy’s planted outside the moat. Jessika squealed as she stepped out of the car, walking down to Phasma who was getting ready to show her around. Hux stood in front of where Ben was, blocking his entrance to the castle with crossed arms and raised eyebrows,

“What do you think you’re playing at?” He hissed, pulling the book out of his bag and using it to point towards the castle, “I thought this book was supposed to be a ‘true’ representation of Hegg? Do you know what this castle looked like when we got here? We had to get builders to work through the night to get it looking like this and one of them was in his eighties! This is your first time on Hegg isn’t it? You googled the whole book.” By the end of his tirade, Hux’s cheeks matched the colour of his hair. 

“You’re the first person to ever have a problem with that.” He said with a shrug as he started recalling the detail he’d described this castle in. Ben knew how thorough Hux could be when he set his mind to it and from the looks of it, he had been incredibly thorough. 

“I can’t believe this. What does she see in you?” Ben just stared at him and walked soundlessly around him, going to meet Jessika and Phasma inside. The inside looked amazing, with tapestries and flowers running down the walls. Jessika was taking in every detail, quoting from his book as she did. 

“Oh look, this must be the window you had Kira watch for Ren from while he was out on the Finalizer.” She squealed, holding up her hands to her mouth as she pulled back some of the curtains to reveal the sea view. She tore off towards the other side of the room, observing one of the tapestries, Phasma following close behind. Hux was still seething at Ben as Jessika quoted tirelessly from his book. Well, at least this confirmed his long held suspicion that Hux had actually read his work to have recreated it this vividly. Scratching the back of his neck, he cleared his throat,

“I’m going to take a walk.” Ben announced and Jessika nodded, waving the back of her hand to him. Hux handed him a large overcoat and a floppy hat as well as slamming a copy of his book into his chest,

“Don’t you dare be noticed or recognised. If anyone asks you’re here on a marketing trip. Maybe think about updating that too.” He was still hissing at him and Ben just about stopped himself from rolling his eyes as he took the coat, hat and, begrudgingly, the book too, deciding that Jessika probably wouldn’t like him throwing it in Hux’s smug face.

…

Rey remembered why she hated this island so much in the first place. Well, she’d never forgotten, but being here again had reinforced why she had left in the first place. Today she’d been sent out by Maz to start making notes on what was going to be Hegg’s first guide book to sell alongside the services they offered at the mechanics workshop. There were barely any cars or anything which really needed fixing on Hegg, so they needed something else to bring the money in. Rey had protested that no one was going to read a guide book to the smallest island off the coast of Scotland, but apparently some American marketing firm had rented out the castle for a conference. She wondered if the people she’d run into the other day had anything to do with it. Uncle Ben had been up to the castle to try to flog his rooms to the Americans there, but had been turned away by a red haired man who sounded exactly like the one Rey had spoken to in the car. If she was more bothered she would have had the energy to be interested in it, but as it was, she didn’t. 

It had been hard coming back to Hegg; she couldn’t ignore questions about her job or her relationship status for too long. Especially as researching for a guide book meant that she was spending a lot of time outside talking to people and noting down key features, like the dock which was no longer there, the place where a sheep had drowned and the exact spot where a tourist had once lost a memory card. It was all ground-breaking and it was all going in the guide. Now she was heading to one of their most special monuments which was the old, disused toilet which was perhaps haunted by the ghost of a drowned cow.

Rey began to note down all the things she’d ever heard about the ghost of the cow and the toilets when she heard footsteps around the outside of the building. She quickly dove into one of the cubicles and pulled it tightly shut; hoping whoever it was just disappeared. No such luck, she could see the outline of someone approaching where she was stood, moaning about the weather. Rey teased her bottom lip in her teeth and then grinned, having had enough of the villagers and deciding that whoever it was probably just needed a good shock to the system.

Taking hold of a piece of the old piping, she fixed her lips over the side of it and shouted, “mooooooo,” down the pipe, leaving an echo of what she hoped was a convincing cow sound around the toilets. There was a shuffle and Rey waited eagerly for some kind of reaction but was just met with,

“Hello? Is someone there?” She tried to get a peek of whoever it was through the side of the panel in front of the cubicle but couldn’t see the strangers face. He didn’t sound like he was from these parts, “I’m sure that’s not an actual cow, though I could be mistaken.” On her tip toes, Rey caught sight of the man and was sure she’d never seen anyone like him before in her life, let alone on Hegg. She started and went off balance, opening the cubicle door and spilling out in front of the man who looked more startled now and jumped back a couple of places,

“Oh, I’m so sorry, I thought you were someone from the village.” The stranger held up his hands, backing away,

“No, no it’s fine, honestly I was just taking shelter. The weather is,” he looked around, “not great for walking.” Rey laughed, unable to tear herself away from his dark eyes, and his locks of hair spilling out from under his floppy hat. The man was gorgeous, not in a conventional way, but she found herself unable to look away. Her eyes roamed over his dimples and she wondered what it would be like to wrap her fingers around those wisps of hair, “but I’m sorry I intruded on your home, only the door was unlocked.” That was enough to snap Rey out of her fantasying as she raised both her eyebrows,

“I don’t live here. This is a public toilet, or it was.” She looked around, she was sure this place hadn’t been used in years. The man’s cheeks turned an odd colour of pink and he shuffled uncomfortably and didn’t look like he knew what to say, so he took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair. Rey almost forgot why she was annoyed with his comment for a moment, “I’m Rey by the way.” She held out her hand, grateful he took it,

“I’m Be-“ He broke off all of a sudden and went a darker colour, nearer to red this time, “I’m Kylo.” Rey was still raising her eyebrows at him,

“You’re not good at lying you know.” The man looked speechless,

“What?” Rey snorted,

“Well, you’re with that marketing lot up at the castle aren’t you? I can tell by your accent, and anyway, Kylo is the name of the main character in that book.” She pointed to it and he looked down at his arms, as though noticing he was carrying it for the first time,

“Oh right. You’ve read it?” Rey ignored the hopeful look in his eyes as she laughed,

“Yeah, just about everyone on Hegg has read it- it’s the only book ever written about this place. I wouldn’t use it as a guide though, it’s got so many inaccuracies, I don’t think the author even came here once when writing it.” The man’s lips pulled into a tight grimace and he nodded at her,

“Maybe the author was going for a more artistic interpretation.” He supplied and Rey shrugged,

“Well the details are very massaged. The Hegg book club gave it four out of ten.”

“Four out of ten?” He exclaimed,

“Yeah, we thought it picked up after Kira went after Ren, the love story was good, but we weren’t sure how realistic it was.” She supplanted, getting the feeling that he might like the book more than she did. “Is his second book out yet?” The rouge in the man’s cheeks was back and he shook his head,

“I don’t believe so, no.” Rey rolled her eyes,

“It’s been ages since his last one hasn’t it?” The man shrugged and looked past her like he was looking at something else, “he must be really blocked, writers block you know? Or maybe he’s just planning to make the book even longer than the first one.” Rey laughed but stopped when she noticed the man wasn’t joining in too. In fact, he still wasn’t looking at her at all,

“The weather looks like it’s settled down, I’ll just-“ He gestured over his shoulder. Rey rushed forwards a bit, probably too keenly,

“Look, I know you’re here to work, whatever your name is, but if you fancy a break from it all then we should maybe grab a coffee or something? Or I can make you a coffee, I live at the B&B on the seafront with my grandfather.” The man was looking at her blankly and Rey could feel her cheeks warming up. “He’s old you see, I said I’d help look after him now he’s ill and running a business by himself…” Unable to continue under the weight of the strangers gaze, Rey broke off, finding it easier to just give him a smile, fingers carding together to stop her fiddling with the hem of her shirt. The man looked unconvinced,

“I don’t think I’ll have time you know, with the marketing and things. There’s just so much marketing to do.” Rey felt her smile drop off her face but she nodded all the same, “I’ll just be going then.” He put his hat back on and left quickly, tucking the book under his arm.

…

“I have just made the biggest unbelievable idiot of myself-“ Rey announced as she walked back into her grandfather’s B&B.

“We have a guest!” He shouted back, stopping her mid rant. Rey placed her forehead on the door, wondering how else this week could go wrong. She walked into the lounge and there was a young man about her age in monks garbs and a large camera bag next to him. He gave her a charming smile which made her wonder why he had taken Holy Orders in the first place. Just her luck really.

“I’m here to capture pictures of rare birds.” He announced with a grin as he held his hand out for her to shake. Rey considered him for a moment,

“We don’t have any rare birds?” The monk shrugged,

“I’m sure I can find some.” Taking his cup of tea the monk retired to his room, leaving Rey and her grandfather alone. He looked sceptical,

“What is it?” Rey asked him and her grandfather shifted his wheelchair to the side,

“I don’t trust him, I think he’s a reporter.” He said with a shift and picked up the gossip magazine which one of the other residents had left. He had it open on the recently abandoned wedding between Jessika Pava and Ben Solo with a picture of Jessika’s agent, “Look, doesn’t this red haired man look like the one at the castle?” Rey squinted at the picture, it was quite blurry and she shrugged,

“Sort of? I don’t know. Are you taking your meds?” She was sure that she heard her grandfather swearing at her under his breath as he took his theories into the other room. Rey didn’t overhear him ringing up the local press board, telling them of his suspicions about what was really going on at the marketing conference.

…

This was going to be the day. This was going to be the day he was going to get the picture of Jessika Pava getting married and it was going to be his biggest pay out ever. It had taken a lot of bribery and sweet talking to get the information out of some of Pava’s people, but he’d tracked her and her fiancée down to the island of Hegg. Poe had arrived by boat the day before and had spent the rest of the time trying to work out directions to the church from the Finalizer novel, most of which he realised must have been made up at some point or another as they just didn’t make any sense. To avoid suspicion he’d borrowed some monks clothing and had been roaming the island dressed in them. It had worked so far and someone had even been helpful enough to point him in the direction of the church.

After arriving at the church, he’d placed a couple of bugs about the place so he would be able to know when the kiss was going to happen. He could move into position then; no need to give himself away too soon. Now, he was perched up in one of the trees with a direct shot through a window of where the first kiss between Pava and Solo would happen. It was perfect. Now he just had to wait.

…

It was the morning of the wedding and Phasma was just about keeping up with Jessika on her run. They were going to pass where the church was just so Jessika could get another look at it as the sun rose. 

“Come on Phasma, you’re doing really well!” Jessika encouraged over her shoulder. Phasma could just about make her out at the top of the hill before she disappeared from view. By the time Phasma reached the same point, she couldn’t see any sign of Jessika anywhere; just a pair of binoculars in the middle of the road. Phasma took up the goggles; all she could see was the scenery around them, until she caught sight of Dameron up a tree next to the church where Jessika and Ben were supposed to get married in a couple of hours.

“Jessika?” Phasma knew she couldn’t shout too loud, but Jessika was nowhere to be seen. She walked around the area, hissing Jessika’s name into the wind for half an hour before returning back to the castle to Hux who hit the wall when Phasma explained that Jessika had run away after catching sight of Poe Dameron outside the church.

“Are you kidding me? She’s missing on this island?” Hux shouted, feeling his world unravelling around him,

“I’ll cancel the wedding?” Phasma supplied, looking sheepish. It was then Hux lit up all at once,

“No, no. We go ahead with the wedding, let Dameron think he’s got the picture of Jessika and Ben while we look for her. We can just do the wedding again for real later then.” Phasma nodded slowly, 

“But how is that going to work exactly?”

“We need another person to be a stand in bride, pretend to be Jessika while we’re looking for her. We do a fake wedding, then the real one later.” 

“That is genius.” Hux grinned, this was going to work, he could feel it, “But who do we get to stand in for Jessika?” 

“That girl, the one we nearly ran over. Who was she?”


	3. Wedding Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey receives an unusual proposal from Hux.

Rey fixed herself a cup of tea and flopped down at her kitchen table. This week was going from bad to worse. At least she could have a little bit of time alone; her grandfather had gone down into the village and their strange monk visitor had taken off early that morning to capture his ‘rare bird’. Rey scoffed into her cup; it was all starting to get bizarre. Try as she might, Rey couldn’t stop her thoughts wandering back to the man she’d met yesterday in the run down toilets. It might not have been the most romantic place to run into someone, but she couldn’t get him out of her head. Her fingers twitched around her cup, wondering what it would be like to run them through his hair. She bit down on the inside of her cheek, wondering if she could find a way to get up to that marketing conference just to accidently run into him again. 

Rey sighed. What was wrong with her? It was one encounter; he’d probably forgotten all about her. She blew on the top of her tea, cooling it as there was a loud knock on her front door. She got up, mouth and eyes suddenly looking more like saucers when she saw who was on the threshold of her grandfather’s B&B.

“Can we come in?” The red haired man demanded, trying to give her a winning smile but coming up short. Rey, who knew her grandfather would never forgive her if she turned away business, stepped to one side to let him and his tall, blonde haired companion in,

“Sure, kitchen’s down the hall. I’ll make you a coffee.” The man made a sound she was sure sounded something like chocking but didn’t comment on it. When she joined them, they both had wide grins on their face, “What is it?” She finally dared to ask.

…...........................................................

By the end of the proposition, Rey wasn’t any more in the clear about what she was supposed to be doing. She was on the edge of laughing, only preventing herself given the look on Hux’s face. “Right, so let me get this straight. You want me to pretend to be Jessika Pava, get fake married to Ben Solo so that she can get married to him later? All this just to put off the press?” Hux nodded enthusiastically,

“Exactly. Think about it, £500 for an hour’s improvisation.” Rey looked at him, deadpan. She had an awful feeling in her gut about this.

“But Ben will think I’m Jessika?” Hux nodded,

“It has to look believable- that includes his expressions. He’s not going to go doe eyed over a complete stranger now, is he?” Rey felt the sting of his words a little more than she should have done. She worried her bottom lip, considering it all.

“No.” She said resolutely, going back to the washing up. A vein in Hux’s forehead started to bulge.

“£700.” He stuck his hand out for her to shake. Rey scoffed.

“No. I’m not interested in weddings.”

“It’s not a real wedding.” Hux protested. “£1000?” Then a horrible idea struck Rey,

“Why me? Has someone on this island told you I’m some kind of prostitute or something?” She looked furious but Hux didn’t back down,

“Right, £5000, no questions asked, one hour only. Think about it, you could use the money for your poor, sick grandfather. Wouldn’t he like that?” Hux went to one of the windows and gave one of the curtains a little yank. The plaster was so old and worn that it all came off immediately in his hands. Rey blinked, her mind processing. It was just a little acting, right? As much as she hated the idea of weddings right now this crazy American was just going to give her five grand for standing there and looking pretty. She could do this for her grandfather. The money could do so much for him.

“Alright, I’ll do it.”

…...........................................................

Ben was passing his soon to be wedding ring from finger to finger, trying to find somewhere it felt comfortable just holding it in his palm a while longer. It wouldn’t be long until he met Jessika at the altar; they could finally get married then. He sighed, maybe then he could go back to writing and this block would finally leave him. He hadn’t written anything meaningful in months, not since he’d met Jessika. He’d been surprised at how quickly she had proposed, they’d had the whirlwind romance so far. Looking at it from the outside, his heart and mind should have been singing onto the pages of his latest novel but he just didn’t feel it. It wasn’t like his first book, the Finalizer, this time nothing was speaking to him when he got his typewriter.

He ran his hand over his face. He was sure there were hundreds of thousands of men who would kill to be in his position right now, but he just wanted it to be over. He was done with the sneaking around, even though this would make Jessika happy, he just wanted to get married to her then go home. 

There was a knock on his door; his ride to the church was here.

…...........................................................

Poe Dameron had been up his tree for some time waiting for the wedding to start. As he did, he found his entertainment in looking up his old pictures of Jessika. Some he kept back for himself, others he sold to the press, though not ones he deemed as being too personal. He wouldn’t have bothered with trying to snap her first kiss if she hadn’t been so damned stubborn about it being private- to Poe, she’d turned it into a game, one he wanted to rise to; like he had something to prove to her.

As he flicked through his pictures, he noticed a familiar sensation running over him and a smile warmed onto his features. He loved the way her smile lit up when she was happy, and even though he couldn’t hear her laugh now, when he looked at pictures of her laughing, the echo was in his ears.

Picture after picture was adored, and it was only after a few minutes he realised what that knotted feeling in his chest was. He was in love with Jessika. Poe blinked at his camera, then at the venue as he saw cars approaching; his mouth was dry.

He had a decision to make.

…...........................................................

With more make up than she’d ever worn in her life, along with a dress which felt like it was suffocating her, Rey found herself sat in the back of Hux’s car. He’d insisted on a veil which was thick enough to cover her face so that Ben couldn’t see her. That was important apparently because he couldn’t know she wasn’t Jessika until the end of the ceremony. It was all something to do with some photographer and the press- Rey hadn’t paid much attention to it because it made her head hurt a little.

When they got to the church, her veil presented another problem as she stepped out of the car; Hux had gathered so much net from her grandfather’s old curtains to form her veil that she couldn’t see a damn thing. He held her hand as he guided her out of the cold Scottish climate into the church building. She could just about make out the shapes of people and Hux hissed at her, 

“Walk forwards, you’re getting married. Act like it.” Rey nodded and started to walk towards two blobs she assumed must have been the priest and the groom- Mr Ben Solo. As she walked she stumbled a bit and felt arms grab her, helping to steady her in a soothing way,

“Hey, Jessika, are you alright?” He asked. Rey, who was petrified of what her fake American accent was going to sound like (Hux had insisted she tried that too) so she just managed a muffled, 

“Mhmm!” As she felt herself being led towards the altar. She followed the direction of the man’s voice to face him, trying to hold herself up as high as she could and look like she was a Hollywood star, rather than the local mechanic/amateur guide book writer. 

“We’re welcomed here today to bring together Ben Solo and Jessika Pava in Holy Matrimony…” Rey held onto each syllable the priest said, panicking as it got closer to the texts she would have to repeat. 

“I, Ben Solo, take you Jessika Pava, to be my lawful wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, until death us do part.” Rey couldn’t see him, but she swore she could hear a tremble in his voice and he was speaking awfully quickly. The priest told her what she had to say and she could feel her heart hammering in her chest,

“I- Jessika Parvaarrr.” She started in an exaggerated American accent. Somewhere behind her she could hear muffled complaints, “Take you, Ben Solo to be my husband, to have and to hooold, in sickness, love, health, death.” The accent was so bad she rushed to the end, eventually abandoning the whole thing in a flurry of words and syllables. The priest didn’t seem too concerned and both were asked to present the rings. Rey could feel the tremble of Ben’s hand as he slipped the ring on her finger,

“What’s going on here?” She could hear him whispering over her shoulder.

“Just go along with it.” Hux was saying.

“I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss-“ She could feel the fabric of her veil being lifted up and ripped off with urgency, like a child might do with a Christmas present. When she focussed on the man in front of her Rey nearly jumped backwards,

“Kylo?” He looked just as shocked,

“Rey?” No, except he wasn’t Kylo was he? She had known that yesterday, only now she knew why he had lied to her. He was Ben Solo, the author of the book she’d spent the whole of their conversation yesterday criticising. She winced. This week was definitely getting worse.

…...........................................................

Ben was striding towards the castle; his face was red, flushed with anger as Hux, Phasma and Rey (the latter at a wider distance) followed him.

“What do you mean she’s _missing_?” He demanded, turning and rounding on Hux who looked unfazed.

“I mean she’s missing, genius. Don’t worry we’re looking for her.” Ben still looked furious,

“Who, who is looking for her?”

“Oh, you know, the gang…” 

“The gang? You mean her make-up artist and hair stylist? Or did you mean you and Phasma?” Phasma looked unimpressed,

“I’m not going out there-“ Hux held his hand up,

“No one is asking you to do anything.” He then turned back to Ben, “She’s on an island in the middle of the outer Hebrides, she can’t have got far.”

“There could be wolves or anything out there!” Ben shouted, “And do you really think the press are going to think this toilet attendant is my wife.” He gestured to Rey as though only just noticing she was there. Rey matched his furious expression,

“I am not a toilet attendant.” She looked up at the clock, knowing her grandfather would be back soon, “Though I would like my cheque and a lift back home?” No one seemed to be paying her any attention as they had all become aware of the shouting and noise of others outside the castle.   
Hux barged past Rey, nearly knocking her to the floor as he looked outside the window to find several members of the press all at the moat of the castle, shouting up at them. That was when Hux decided that this was not his week, or his year.

“Right, right, you know what Ben, you’re right, we should all go look for Jessika.” He smiled sweetly and then looked at Rey, “And you can go home, but we’ll go out the back way, hmm?” 

Rey didn’t like his expression but she did need to get home so she followed the group begrudgingly, holding the skirts of the dress so she didn’t trip up on her way up the stairs. “Just through there-“ Hux said, gesturing for Rey and Ben to go in before him; neither of them noticed him stopping Phasma entering the room. It was too late as he slammed the door shut, locking it tightly behind them.

Rey was the first one hammering on the door,

“Let me out! An hour you said!” Hux shrugged at the door,

“Yeah well, I’m full of crap darling, ask anyone.” Phasma gaped at Hux as they drew away from the door.

“Why…?” She began, pointing at the room Ben and Rey were now locked in.

“Well, if they’re locked in there, then Mr Prince Charming won’t go out looking for Jessika and blow his cover, and that awful girl can still pose as Jessika. As long as the press think they’re both in there, then they won’t go looking for Jessika out on the island will they?” Phasma didn’t look convinced but she didn’t have any reason to doubt Hux.

“Fine, I’ll go tell the press we want to make an announcement.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So the not so much love birds are married!
> 
> Jessika is married, Ben is annoyed and Rey is stuck in the middle of it. It's all uphill from here folks!


	4. realisations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rey and Ben realise the true extent to their actions at the church, while Poe struggles to come to terms with his feelings.

The door shut with a slam behind them and Rey followed it shortly after with the hammering of her fists on the door. The skirts of the dress were hitched up in one of her hands and she used her spare one to rap harshly on the wood. “An hour you said!” She screamed at it, though she got no response from the other side. Rey continued on in that same rhetoric for a few minutes until she realised that it wasn’t working. How was she going to explain this to her grandfather? Rey groaned loudly and then leaned her back into the door, looking at the room they’d been locked in.

The room itself was a spectacle.

The sides of the room were decorated with hundreds of copies of Ben Solo’s book the Finalizer. In the middle was a kind of ice sculpture which she supposed was representing the ship in the novel. Rey rolled her eyes at it all as she walked into the centre of the room, looking at the gift bags and the other extravagances which were littered about the place. For a private wedding, they’d sure gone all out.

“You’re getting gift bags from your own wedding?” Rey asked, picking up the nearest one which had an assortment of things like confetti, sweets, gift vouchers and some other gifts. 

From where he was stood, Ben turned around with his arms crossed and gave Rey a stern look as she started laughing, unpacking the gift bags, “Look, you have a diamante calculator.” She was howling by this point, sat on the edge of the sofa off to one side of the room. He looked incredibly unimpressed with her,

“Well, Jesskia insisted.” Rey shrugged and continued to look around,

“Are you having a wedding based on your book?” She now asked a little seriously. A little pink flourished around Ben’s cheeks and ears and he scoffed, shaking his head without really giving Rey much of an answer.

“What is it you’re doing here, exactly?” Rey set down the gift bag and her gaze found Ben’s again,

“What do you mean?” Ben looked furious now,

“Being paid to be my wife? Playing dress up?” Rey stood up and matched his expression,

“Hey, this was supposed to be to help your big day- it was supposed to be an hour, I have things to do to you know.” Ben laughed,

“Like what, hang around old toilets?” Rey’s cheeks went bright red,

“I told you I’m not a toilet attendant!” Ben didn’t look convinced and just shook his head, loosening his tie. “I have to get out of here, my grandfather’s expecting me.” Ben rolled his eyes,

“Well, sorry for keeping you.” He was now looking at the windows and the external doors to try to get out. “I have to get out and help look for Jessika.” Ben said with a little conviction. Rey flopped back onto the sofa, finding the dress still difficult to wear and altogether too heavy with this kind of stress going on around her.

“Hey, did you sign the register?” Rey asked Ben, looking up at him over her shoulder. He stilled and turned back to face her,

“You saw me sign it.” He pointed out. Rey ran her finger over the ring he’d placed on her finger at the church,

“It’s just, uh, in the commotion I think I signed my own name on the register.” Ben’s face fell, “Does that mean we’re, um?” She held up her hand, and he did the same to where the little wedding bands now lay. “That’s the legal bit, right?” Rey had gone pale and Ben looked as though he’d just run the length of Hegg.

Ben swore under his breath and Rey felt like she was going to keel over.

“We’ve got to fix this.”

\---------------

The media centre tent had been set up outside the castle where it had been announced Jessika Pava and Ben Solo would be spending the rest of the time on their honeymoon. By this point, there were several newspapers gathered all prepping stories. The flap to media tent was thrown open with force as the leading editor of one of the biggest gossip papers in the USA, Editor Snoke, walked in with force,

“I need pictures.” He hissed. The reporter nearest to him laughed,

“You’ll be lucky- there’s nothing. No ones seen anything, it’s like they’re not even here.” Snoke didn’t look amused and just disregarded him,

“None of you have information, but Dameron will have what I need.” His voice was like silk, an intern was following him round, writing down notes of everything which was going on around them. 

The same reporter started laughing.

“You mean the famous Dameron, sat over there?” Snoke raised his gaze to the corner of the tent where Poe was sat, halfway through a pint of beer, sobbing helplessly over it. Putting up a hand to the intern, Snoke took a seat opposite Dameron,

“Tell me you have the pictures.” Snoke demanded, slamming a hand down on the table. Dameron sat up, though wasn’t shocked. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes on his sleeve. Snoke looked anything but impressed.

“I can’t. I’m in love with her.” 

“What?”

“Jessika. I can’t hand over anything of hers anymore; I love her.” Snoke slammed his hand back down on the table,

“You have to be joking-“ Poe stood up,

“Dammit, I love her, I-I have to tell her.” Poe ran from the tent, leaving Snoke looking perplexed and with an expression somewhere between fury and confusion. Everyone returned back to normal within a few minutes; phones were buzzing and there was a gentle hum over the media tent. Only one person remained staring at Snoke; a woman with smooth skin but who was hobbled over like an elderly woman with a hood over the top part of her head and thick glasses. Her eyes were fixed on Snoke with purpose.

\---------------

By this point, Ben had found the only solution to his problem was going to be found at the bottom of a bottle of champagne. He should have been married to Jessika by now and finding his way off this island, instead he was in a room with a complete stranger, who now also happened to be his lawfully wedded wife.

Rey had sunk into the second bottle of champagne and the dress hung a little looser around her shoulders.

“Mind the dress.” Ben chided as he took another sip of champagne. Rey giggled. 

“Was it expensive?” Ben rolled his eyes,

“What do you think?” He sat next to her, taking the bottle of champagne off her and setting it to the side. Rey pouted at him and hit his chest with the back of her hand.

“I was enjoying that.” Ben nodded,

“Mmm. Well, remember this isn’t your wedding.” Rey snorted and held up her left hand, where the wedding band lay,

“I beg to differ, _husband_.” Ben pulled a face,

“Don’t call me that.” Rey shrugged and was about to speak when someone came crashing in through the external door. Rey didn’t recognise the man, but Ben’s face was a fury, “You?!” Poe Dameron brushed off the dust from his jacket and looked between Ben and Rey,

“Where’s Jessika?” He asked, furrowing his brow,

“Like I’d tell you, how’d you get in here?” Poe gestured to the room he’d come in from,

“Scaled up the walls; surprisingly easy when you know how.” He wriggled his eyebrow; Ben was more than aware of Dameron’s skill set. He had once scaled a ten storey building to snap him and Jessika when he had visited her at work, so nothing really surprised him particularly about the man.

“Get out of here.” Ben said, stalking towards him. Rey slunk back a little, trying to become invisible.

“Who is that?” Ben looked at Rey then back to Poe,

“She’s no one.” Rey snorted,

“Excuse you, I’m your wife.” Ben shook his head,

“She is a huge mistake.” Poe looked between Ben and Rey,

“You two are married?” Ben looked sheepish,

“Sort of. It was an accident.” Poe looked overjoyed,

“This is fantastic.” He said, “You know she’s better for you.” Ben stared at Poe, “It’s just a better match, Solo-“ In that moment, Ben lunged forwards, making a grab for Poe. However, the champagne in his system slowed his responses and he went crashing into the side, taking one of the bookshelves with him.

Poe made a dash across the room, trying the door Ben and Rey had been pushed in but found it locked. Rey moved out of his way, watching as the men took turns trying to land punches against each other. Poe was more interested in getting out so managed to deflect Ben’s misplaced punches and went the way he came, running out the side and leaping from the window. Rey looked out and heard the splash as Poe hit the water and swum out towards the banks. He grinned over his shoulder at where he could see Rey and Ben watching him and waved to the pair of them. Ben was incensed.

“I’ve got to find Jessika before he does.” Ben said, running about the room like a thing possessed. Rey watched him with her arms folded,

“Well I need to go too, but if you haven’t noticed genius we’re still locked in here, unless you fancy swimming?” Ben groaned and looked out of the window and pointed at the little paddle boat moored nearby one of the windows.

“There, if I can get to that then I can get out of here.” Rey crossed her arms over her chest,

“If you’re going, I’m going too.” Ben at this point had started tying towels and whatever fabric he could together in knots so it formed a makeshift rope. Rey watched him as he worked, bickering with him all the while. 

Eventually, Ben had amassed enough fabric to reach the little paddle boat from the window.

“Well it’s been fun, but this is where I leave you.” Ben announced, waving at Rey as he started to work his way down the makeshift rope to the paddle boat. Rey looked at him over the side of the window,

“I’m coming too.” Ben, who was now in the boat, shook both his hands and his head in her direction,

“No, no you’re not. You’ll get the bottom of the dress wet here, I’m sure someone will release you later.” He grabbed the paddles and began to turn away, “See you.” Rey's cheeks were scarlet, 

“What makes your girlfriend more important than my elderly grandfather? He needs me too!” Ben didn’t reply, so she started to climb down the rope, hoping to catch Ben and the boat before it was too late. Having reached the end of the rope, she stuck out her foot to reach the end of the boat, just as it slipped from her grasp under Ben’s direction. He looked around at her,

“What the hell are you doing?” He snapped at her. Just as Rey had turned to give him a reply, her hand slipped and she fell from the rope into the water of the moat.  
The weight of the dress pulled her down almost instantaneously. Rey wasn’t a stranger to swimming; on Hegg there’d been little else to do but swim in the sea as children, so she could swim, but as she tried to get back up to the surface she felt something tug her down. In a panic, she realised she was losing air all at once and the dress had snagged on something at the bottom of the moat. 

Darkness pinched at the edges of Rey’s vision as her arms went limp and she struggled to hold onto reality.


End file.
